The Romantic Middle AgesArchitecture and Nature in Painting after Schinkel

14.09.2012 to 24.02.2013 Alte Nationalgalerie

Complementing the Schinkel exhibition at the Kulturforum,the museum will present architectural paintings connected to and from the period after the painter and architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel. Architectural painting experienced a surprising revival in the first half of the 19th century which was triggered by the fact that medieval architecture itself had become charged with a highly emotional significance.

These testaments of past greatness and daring awakened feelings of nationalism, patriotism, romanticism, even religious devotion. Countless buildings were destroyed during the Napoleonic Wars, and the secularisation of Germany in 1803 left churches,monasteries and castles without owners, and facing imminent demolition. Because of this, however, theybecame established in the collective consciousness as an integral part of Germany's cultural heritage. Medieval castles and forts were a popular motif in literature and painting whilethe "German" Gothic style of cathedrals was greatly admired. The receptionof the Middle Ages in the early 19th century culminated in such projects as the completion of Cologne Cathedral, which wasalso regarded as a national duty.